by Joy Luh
Silver. It was everywhere. Always. A flash of the underside of a bird’s wing as it caught an updraft. The color left behind when a fly is there then gone. Maybe the reflection of a passing plane in a puddle, whose stillness has yet to be disturbed. Everywhere. Perhaps the color that someone with synesthesia would see to accompany a sweet note. It was the small things, the dots floating around in his vision that he could never quite catch. The color that went hand in hand with the sound of a ring dropping onto a cold and unforgiving floor. The color, or what he imagined the color to be, of the varying screws and bolds and plates all wound up in his body.
So in that way, maybe he was less “nature” and he had been made into more “robot”. It was crazy, of course, to expect that robots could be made from humans. He was being paranoid. He knew that.
Silver. The color of the monsters in the shadows of his mind that he had created himself. Silver. The color of his bike, had the paint been scraped away. Silver. The color to distract him. The color that draws attention. Everyone goes for gold, with its flashing brilliance, but gold is rare. What was rare was finding someone to appreciate the smaller things. Silver. Hidden away. Calm. Quiet. Waiting.
Silver. The color that builds, and continues on to build. A silver fingertip on a human made entirely of metal, but at the same time, fully functional. A silver glint behind an eye, not quite innocent but not malicious enough to care.
These were the thoughts that came like a tidal wave through Henry’s mind as he recalled turning his head. Feeling his heart jump as the silver semi barreled into him, crushing his bike like a can, and leaving him in the middle of the road.
In a way, he hated the color. But it was a part of him now. Surgery after surgery to ensure he could be normal. He wouldn’t be known as “that one kid who got hit by a truck” forever.
Joy Luh likes to spend her free time hanging out with her friends and listening to music. Some of her favorite artists are Juice WRLD and Blackbear. When she’s not being social, she spends her time doing schoolwork and horseback riding.
Hawaii Pacific Review 